Tuesday, August 28, 2012

I RECENTLY CAME ACROSS a couple of blog posts dealing
with the question of using the same oven for dairy and meat, or using an oven
previously used for non-kosher items.[1]
Both noted the somewhat lenient view of R. Moshe Feinstein[2]
which differentiates between dry and wet items. His position is that with dry
items one need not be concerned about any vapor remaining in the oven that
might be capable of transferring flavor to another item, because such vapor is
minute and insignificant, while with wet items this is a genuine Kashrus
concern that needs to be dealt with accordingly. From personal experience, most
people I have spoken to think this view is either normative or a bit too
lenient. It seems that most people I have met think that using the same oven
for wet meat and milk products, even one after another, is a major leniency not
worth relying on.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

THIS IS A BIT of an obscure post, but I am publishing it in
order to defend my Dairy Non-Dairy Creamer post against statements made here which
imply that I may not have done my due diligence in my understanding of YD §89.
The following are my notes from the relevant portion of the siman.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

I WAS AT WAWA a while back and I needed a
coffee. Having just eaten meat, I was looking for an alternative to my usual
half-and-half. I saw they had a bottle of non-dairy creamer, and was about to
pour myself some, when I noticed an OU-D. Undeterred, I glanced at the label to
check if there really was milk in the ingredients. Alas, there it was. It was
in the “contains less than 2%” list, but it was there alright. So I was stuck without
my coffee, and bought a Red Bull instead.

One day it hit me. I could absolutely have used
that OU-D non-dairy creamer in my coffee after eating meat!

Why? It's simple, really. I mentioned that the
ingredient panel said that it contained less than 2% milk. As I realized then,
that is not good enough to be batel – 1/60 is about 1.6%, so going in on “less
than 2%” would be a bit of a gamble. But what I realized was that I obviously
wasn’t going be to drinking the creamer straight; I was putting it into my
coffee. That means that at the end of the day there was no chance that the milk
wouldn’t go under 1.6% of the total volume, which means it would automatically
be batel! So it turns out that I could’ve had my coffee after all. Oh well.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

IN FIFTY YEARS from now, most observant Jews
will either be vegetarians or they will hypothetically have no Halachic
objection to regularly consuming pork. Here’s why.

Scientists are currently working on developing
in vitro meat. From Wikipedia: “The process of developing in vitro meat
involves taking muscle cells and applying a protein that helps the cells to
grow into large portions of meat. Once the initial cells have been obtained,
additional animals would not be needed – akin to the production of yogurt
cultures. Conceivably, one animal could provide more than a billion pounds of
in vitro meat to feed the world's population for at least several hundred
years.”

They have been successful, but at the moment
the meat they’ve produced is prohibitively expensive. However, as the Wikipedia
article suggests, in the future “the price of in vitro meat at retail outlets
like grocery stores and supermarkets may decrease prices to levels that
middle-class consumers consider to be "inexpensive" due to
technological advancements.” This seems fairly reasonable.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

IF ANYONE CAN find me an original first edition
(Prague 1756) of this page or a photocopy of it, so that I can know the exact
size of the diagrams as they appeared in the first edition, I’d be extremely
grateful.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Here is another one from the Mi Yodeya files. This is the
long version of my answer here.

QUESTION: Many offices have a water dispenser (with hot
water spout) or a hot water tap next to a sink. Is this hot tap Kosher? Assume
for a moment that someone uses the tap to dispense hot water into a cup of
non-Kosher instant soup or non-Kosher instant hot chocolate. Does the steam
from the cup make the tap non-Kosher? – Seth J

Sunday, July 22, 2012

QUESTION: Is it permitted to shower or change clothes
during the Nine Days?

SHORT ANSWER: It is a mitzva to shower as one normally
does on every day other than Tisha Bav itself, and changing shirts, socks and
undergarments as one normally does for cleanliness is permitted – better yet, it is expected
– even on Tisha Bav itself.

Friday, July 20, 2012

I COMMONLY FIND that when one thing bothers me
a million things bother me. Chana Gittel over at JMVHO has posted a number of complaints about certain Halachic standards found within her community. Some of
the things she mentions are being done in compliance with Halacha, and some
aren’t (in my opinion). So while I won’t be able to make everything go away, I’d
like to address her points and clarify which things are ‘real’ and which aren’t,
and outline what is required by Halacha and what is not.

Monday, July 9, 2012

THERE IS AN INTERESTING new site that opened up
called Need An Eitzah. It is similar to the stack exchange site Mi Yodeya with
the exception that it allows for opinions as well. I think it’s a great site. Here
is a quick bit of Halachic information that I posted as an answer there today:[1]

The Gemara says that someone who gazes upon the
Kohanim in the Beis HaMikdash while they are standing on their platform and
blessing the Jewish People; such a person’s vision will fade.